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CarsLore / Compare / Large cars / Cabriolet vs 5 Series

Audi Cabriolet vs BMW 5 Series

Two large cars, compared on the same official records: MOT and inspection results, safety ratings, fuel use, recalls and owner complaints. Side by side from official registers: recalls, complaints and registrations.

At a glance

Audi CabrioletBMW 5 Series
Model years in the US safety record1993–20031985–2023
New cars registered in Europe—1,118,573 (2010–2022)
Licensed in the United Kingdom654199,283
On the road in the Netherlands—64,700
In traffic in Finland—34,822

EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).

Reliability and problems

Audi CabrioletBMW 5 Series
UK MOT first-time pass rate—79%
… against cars of the same age—+10%
Illogical odometer records (NL)—4.8%
US owner complaints22427
Most complaints aboutElectrical systemAir bags
Model year with most complaints1996 (8)2008 (105)
US recall campaigns316
Manufacturer service bulletins69928
NHTSA defect investigations—8

Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).

Safety

Audi CabrioletBMW 5 Series
NHTSA overall rating—5★ (2016)

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).

Fuel, emissions and price

Audi CabrioletBMW 5 Series
Official combined fuel use, Canada12.5 l/100 km (1995)—
Real-world use in Europe, diesel hybrid—7.0 l/100 km
Real-world use in Europe, petrol hybrid—8.5 l/100 km
Real-world use in Europe, petrol—11.8 l/100 km
Real-world use in Europe, diesel—7.0 l/100 km
Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe—108 g/km
Average power of new cars in Europe—164 kW (221 hp)
Average mass in running order—1,918 kg
Dutch list price when new (median)—€70,710
Average odometer in Finland—256,000 km

Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).